


Dog Days

by BranHowe



Category: Supernatural
Genre: BUT NOT THIS TIME, Gabriel is generally a piece of shit, M/M, corgi!gabriel - Freeform, dog!Gabriel - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-25
Updated: 2019-12-17
Packaged: 2021-02-25 21:15:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,774
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21562723
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BranHowe/pseuds/BranHowe
Summary: Dean is bad at wording out his thoughts and feelings, Gabriel is there to try to pry them out one way or another.
Relationships: Gabriel/Dean Winchester
Comments: 17
Kudos: 61





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this story last year on a whim after reading a bunch of Sabriel-centric stories where Gabriel turned himself into a dog eventually conquering the taller hunter's heart. I love the trope of Gabriel turned into a dog but of course I needed some Debriel thrown in the mix so here's what came out of it.

“Ok, ok. Let’s start from the beginning.”

“Right.”

“Turn the key”

“Turn the key”

“Lever on Drive”

“Drive”

“Now, slowly, press the accele—Slowly dammit!”

“Wow, sorry about that.”

Gabriel snickered while Dean sent him a nasty look. He looked at him trying to convey the funny part of the situation but obviously the hunter was not in the best mood.

“Oh for Father’s sake, come on Dean! I won’t harm your car. And if anything happens I can fix it with a snap.”

“You better NOT harm my baby in any way.”

Gabriel was honestly trying his best not to get into the same bitchy mood Dean already had. He knew it would be a matter of seconds until someone exploded if he allowed himself to get like that.

“Whatever. Let’s roll.”

With a quick movement he pressed the accelerator once more, still too hard for Dean’s mind who allowed himself some colourful expletives while getting a hold to the side of the door. 

Dean couldn't really understand why on earth Gabriel had decided he wanted to learn how to drive, let alone why he was adamant that it had to be him and him alone the one who should be teaching him. Couldn’t he just give himself the skill? Add to that the fact that Sam and Cas were “too busy” homeschooling Jack and he had been left with the burden of teaching an archangel how not to crash his precious Baby.

They had been going around the back roads of Kansas for a couple of hours now and despite everything, Dean had to admit the feathered idiot was getting better by strides, it probably had something to do with his archangel powers. So he was kind of annoyed because he was certain the last three ‘mistakes’ had actually been completely on purpose. He didn't know whether he should kill him or praise him.

“Slow down for the turn, not that much you idiot!”

Gabriel chuckled, he had always loved to mess with Dean and by now he was certain that Dean knew it as well considering how he was looking at him half angry, half amused. 

“Keep your eyes on the road peacock.”

Gabriel's eyes sparkled.

“You haven't seen me showing off yet”

“Don't need to, I know you already.”

Gabriel laughed openly now. “Oh Father, you don't know how much I love you”

“Slow down when nearing that crossroads ahead, you can't see well around the corner and a lot of heavy loaded trucks use this road.”

“Right-o”

Some meters before the crossroad Gabriel halted the car to a stop without notice sending Dean against the front.

“Dude! What the hell was that?”

Before Dean could keep on calling Gabriel out, the sound of forcing brakes came from the corner Dean had warned Gabriel about. Seconds later, a semi truck came to sight from there, falling over and sliding along the concrete until it almost touched the car.

Dean looked at Gabriel slightly pale before jumping out of Baby to reach the driver's door climbing from the side.

“Should I call 911?” Gabriel was also stepping out of the turned off car.

“Yeah”

After tossing his phone to Gabriel when he asked for it, Dean struggled to get to the door while keeping himself on top of the sided truck but managed to open it and look inside where he saw the driver looking around, unaware of why everything looked sideways. A soft groan came from him when Dean shaked his shoulder a little. 

“You alive man?”

“Y… yeah”

“Great, we just called 911, stay right there, don't panic.”

Minutes later there was already a police car and an ambulance arriving to help the man. Apparently the fence of a farm behind was breached and the cows had gone loose, the poor driver lost control of the truck when he tried to maneuver it away from the animals.

After talking a little with the cops about what they had seen, Dean and Gabriel went back to the car and Gabriel turned at the crossroad to go back home, if the look Dean had was any clue, it had been quite a bumpy day already to keep on going with the driving lessons.

Both men stayed silent for a period of time until Gabriel turned the radio on. He didn’t pretend he didn’t know what he was doing anymore and Baby was running smoothly through the road back home. Dean, as silent as he was, was quite aware of it. They arrived home after it got dark and stepped out of the car in the same silent mood. During the rest of the night everything went on as usual with the rest of the people at the bunker. Eventually, Gabriel knocked Dean’s door while he was preparing himself to sleep.

“Hey”

“Hey”

“You ok Dean-o?”

“Why you ask?”

“I… After the truck accident you’ve been—”

“Oh, that, uh… It’s fine, don’t mind it.”

“Dean, you don’t look fine.”

Dean let out a deep sigh and turned back to sit on his bed and take off his boots, he didn’t really have time for this but he also realized there was nothing he could do to keep the archangel away if he actually wanted to stay around, well, he could but the situation was far from calling for a banishing sigil right now. Gabriel closed softly the door behind him and moved towards a lonely chair, sitting on it. Dean did his best pretending to ignore him, moving through the motions of taking his clothes off. He finally sighed once more.

“You gonna let me sleep?”

“Dean—”

“Don’t.”

Gabriel froze when he heard the trembling on Dean’s usually commanding voice.

“Don’t ‘Dean’ me now.”

“But—”

“It doesn’t matter. It was long ago.”

Gabriel just stayed there, pleading at Dean with his eyes. And the worst was that Dean knew he meant it, he wanted to help. How or when had he finally been able to tell Gabriel’s moods and expressions he didn’t know but he understood that right now the archangel was trying to get to him. And he was scared because he realized that deep inside he was desperate for him to reach where he sometimes felt no one should reach at all. Opening his sheets he made his way into the bed.

“Just let me sleep.”

Gabriel turned his eyes down while dropping his shoulders, defeated and lost.

“Stop the sad puppy face. It won’t work.”

Gabriel looked at Dean and suddenly his eyes lit up mischievously once more. Crap, was all Dean thought. Before he could process it, there was a wobbly shaped dog sitting right where Gabriel had been, large, fluffy and pointy ears standing upright. Standing carefully on the chair and with a lot of calculations, the corgi jumped from his seat towards the bed almost missing the spot, struggling with his rear paws to finally climb onto it. Despite everything, Dean had to chuckle at the sight. Looking back at him after the struggle, the puppy flashed him his stupid puppy smile and went towards Dean who only managed a startled warning against him before Gabriel was nuzzling his face with interest and soft whimpering noises that denoted affection. 

It was too much. Dean began to chuckle, struggling against Gabriel-dog who for some reason was really good at scurrying away from being pushed aside and was doing his best to tickle the man. 

“Stop, stop! I told you to stop dammit! You stupid—Not there!” Gabriel kept on like this until Dean was honestly laughing. A soft knock came before the door opened.

“Dean? Are you—” Sam froze at the sight of his brother being poked by a dog that apparently had appeared out of nowhere. Dean tried to stop as well but was not really able to after all the tickling he had received. Gabriel-dog turned towards the door. 

“Sam!” Was what he would have said but only a bark came out of him. “What are you doing here?” A questioning whine instead of words.

Sam, who was obviously more into dogs than his brother beamed at the dog standing over his brother smiling and wagging his tail widely. He rushed into the room and went to pet the corgi behind his ears.

“Hey boy, where did you come from?”

“I was here you dumbass!” Another bark.

Dean snickered, his brother was in for a terrible disappointment.

“Don’t get used to it. He won’t stay like that for long.”

Sam frowned at Dean “You just sneaked him in! You can’t honestly say you’ll kick him out now!”

“Well, I don’t think I would be able to kick him out even if my life depended on it.”

At that, Gabriel looked affronted at him and with a huff he turned against him, rear up and snot away. Sam awed and held the pup close while glaring at his brother.

“You upset him!”

“Did not.”

Gabriel turned towards him and huffed in disgust.

“Did not!”

Sam looked at the dog now slightly suspicious. 

“How...”

“Not a real dog Sam. Gabriel thought this would be fun.”

Sam looked astonished for a second. He was gonna say something against it but when he remembered how happy his brother had looked being attacked by the puppy he had to bite his tongue.

“Well, maybe he wasn’t that wrong. Puppy cuddles are the best eh?” He nuzzled Gabriel’s nose while he barked in happy approval. Dean sighed while moving his head in reprobation.

“Just leave me alone. I want to sleep.”

Sam left his brother’s room but Gabriel stayed by his side. 

“What? I’m okay now. It’s alright.”

The deep pools of honey in Gabriel’s eyes stayed fixed on Dean. After a moment, he began to circle a place near Dean’s stomach and made himself a ball, ready to sleep by his side.

“Seriously? I don’t need any lap dog, you got that?”

Gabriel huffed but did nothing to try to move. It was Dean who sighed now, he stared at Gabriel for the longest time. Doubting, he placed a hand on his back and started to pet him, soft auburn and pale fur bristling through his fingers. It felt nice, and the way Gabriel’s sides went up and down in calm breathing slowly made Dean swiftly fall into sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

When he woke up Gabriel, still a dog, was looking at him resting his head over his front paws with a sad longing look. Unable to stop himself, Dean automatically went to pet his head. On his barely awake state it was hard to remember that he was actually talking to an archangel while he was looking like such a cute dog.

“Mornin’ sweetheart, you want some grub?”

Gabriel smiled while wagging his tail and barked. He quickly went to nuzzle Dean’s face and whimpered fondly a little. He smirked against his will and moved to stand up from the bed and go towards the kitchen, Gabriel brushing his leg from time to time.

Breakfast was ready by the time Sam arrived from his morning jog and joined them on the kitchen, where he lavished Gabriel with attention. Dean looked at them highly amused and wondering if he would ever actually have the heart to tell Sam about the fact that it was Gabriel’s nose what he was kissing. It would also have been a perfect chance to make fun of him but seeing how he himself had called Gabriel sweetheart earlier on that could easily backfire.

Castiel and Jack arrived some minutes later, Castiel frowned at the dog but before he could even say a thing Gabriel had a staring contest with him. After a moment where Dean was dead certain Gabriel was actually threatening Castiel against saying a word Castiel swiftly moved towards one of the seats at the table. Jack on the other hand approached him a bit weary but with sparkling eyes. It was like he had never seen a dog up close before.

“C… Can I pet you?”

Gabriel assessed the kid for a moment and then went towards Jack’s hand where he allowed him to place it on his head and then moved accordingly to encourage the kid to pet him. Dean looked at Jack’s lit up face and felt something clench slightly on his chest. Maybe they should actually get a real dog.

When they sat, Gabriel landed his paws on Dean’s lap and looked at him seriously.

“What?”

A soft whimper.

“I don’t get you.”

A sharp bark.

“He wants you to carry him.”

More soft whimpers. Dean let his shoulders down while rolling his eyes.

“Dude, we don’t fit in here.”

Now Gabriel tore wailing.

“Aw Dean!”

Dean sighed in resignation.

“Alright, alright, come here you insufferable bastard.”

Excited, Gabriel kicked his paws while he was torn upwards from the floor and licked Dean’s face in excitement. Dean just let out an awkward “Ew! Gross!” while Sam laughed at them.

“He really likes you.”

“That’s debatable”

Happy with being on Dean’s lap, Gabriel made himself a ball albeit letting his hind fall because he really wasn’t that small and allowed Dean to have his breakfast in peace. He had dozed off by the moment they ended and was startled when Dean placed him back on the ground.

“Wow, calm down. I just wanna get up.”

Thus three more days passed. It didn’t matter what Dean was doing, Gabriel was always by his side. He even jumped into the Impala when Dean made a grocery run, earning a lot of ‘ooohs’ and ‘aaahs’ and ‘awww!’ from the girls they encountered. Dean went back to the bunker with six new numbers to call. 

“I gotta admit that before today I highly underestimated the trope of the guy with the dog.” Gabriel barked at him once, Dean didn’t understand dog talk but he was certain by the movement of his tail that Gabriel was just as elated as he was. 

“You want one of these numbers? You worked harder than me to get them.”

Gabriel turned his head sideways like thinking it out and then moved his head in a 'nope’ motion. Dean chuckled, it was weird how with just a couple of days having dog-Gabriel by his side he was feeling so much better in general. He was starting to realize he would truly miss him once he got bored and changed back to a guy because it would become awkward to cuddle with him as a man. 

He was going through these thoughts by the end of the day already on his bed while passing his hand through Gabe's back and sighed profoundly. Gabriel turned to look at him with an inquiry in his eyes. After a couple more minutes in silence Dean finally opened his mouth.

“I should have died when we crashed with that truck.”

Gabriel lifted his ears towards Dean.

“I should have died.”

Gabriel was looking straight at Dean now.

“If I had, dad wouldn't have had to go to hell and everything would have been so different and...”

Gabriel barked at Dean, cutting him out of his downward spiral. He looked at the dog a bit surprised when it sighed and made to sit. In an instant, human Gabriel was there once more, cross-legged beside Dean, the hunter’s hand now laying over his leg. Before Dean could process the fact that he had forgotten he was talking with Gabriel instead of a dog, the archangel talked.

“Dean, even if your father had managed to stay out of hell, do you think that would have changed a thing? Sam was still haunted by Azazel’s blood and only Father knows what they could have done to achieve the breaking of the first seal. You are The Righteous Man but it was only needed A righteous man to break the seal. They could have found anyone; a priest, a saint, a community help center assistant. You know well that they only took your father because they wanted to fuck you guys up, not because he was indispensable.”

Dean looked at Gabriel as if he was unable to understand half of his words but still tried to listen. Gabriel sighed softly.

“The demons knew what was going on, the angels knew what was going on, heck _I_ knew what was going on… And I know it doesn’t mean a thing after all these years but I want you to know I’m sorry for that.” Gabriel turned his gaze downwards, he had been acting like a coward for so long, looking from the sides, hiding from everyone. “...I still think about it and no matter how many detours I take, I always end up at the same place. A broken man in hell breaking the first seal and a misguided soul on earth killing a demon.” 

He went to hold Dean’s fingers between his hands softly. An unwillful action that came from restlessness.

“Even today I believe that no matter what anyone could have tried to do to avoid it, the Apocalypse was bound to happen.”

Gabriel’s soft defeated words flooded Dean with the despair the archangel was feeling. And that was the moment he remembered once more that it took one to know one. Gabriel had noticed he was falling down in regret of his past actions because he had gone there as well. 

“Anyone but you... and Sam, of course.”

Dean’s eyes widened in realization. Was Gabriel acknowledging that despite being who he was and all the power he held it was thanks to a pair of salty hunters that the Apocalypse was avoided? He held Gabriel’s hand back.

“Hey, it wasn’t entirely your fault either. You and your brothers have all been huge dicks.”

Gabriel chorted, he was annoyed at Dean for calling them that but to be honest there was nothing new about the comment. He knew Dean was trying to cheer him up in his own way but deep within the wound still hurt.

“...I know it was silly of me but I hoped until the very end Lucifer would realize his errors and try to redeem himself.”

Dean kept quiet for a second. Gabriel surely knew better than that but how could he debate when he had gone so far for Sam despite other people giving up on him?

“What about Michael?”

“Michael was a major pain in the ass.”

Dean laughed hard “I thought you loved all of them equally?”

“Dude, not even my father loved each of us equally.”

Dean snorted at the comment since it was funny but he could tell the misery covered by the joke.

“Well, if it means anything, you’re my favorite of the batch.”

Gabriel smirked dejectfully. He felt Dean’s hand tightening up around his, Gabriel turned to meet the hunter’s gaze.

“I mean it Gabe.”

Dean was able to see how Gabriel’s eyes glistened for a second there before he looked sideways trying hard to repress the tears. Unfortunately he had forgotten his trembling hand was a dead giveaway. After holding himself for what he felt an eternity he just snickered at Dean.

“Well, you shouldn’t be so impressed, I’m the best after all.”

Dean smiled back at him. Stupid bastard. Gabriel faltered for a second.

“If I turn back to a dog will you hold me all night?”

A dry silence filled the room for a moment.

“Sure”

Quickly, Gabriel turned back into a dog and laid by Dean’s side, who passed his arm around the dog’s compact shape. Before drifting to unconsciousness, he noticed Gabriel sighing profoundly.


	3. Chapter 3

“Well this is embarrassing.” Was the only thing Gabriel could think, looking at how Dean was being helped upwards by an apparently nice lady that saw him trip over Gabriel’s body. It was supposed to be a joke but now he had to look at the stupid idiot flirting with the busty husband seeker. He tried to call his attention a couple of times biting softly his jeans but apparently Dean didn’t have time for dogs right now when there were two massively important reasons to ignore him. Dejected, he sighed and laid down on the concrete, fluffy ears down. 

After the girl spent what Gabriel considered an insanely long amount of time chatting with Dean he decided he had had enough and barked at them impatiently. Action that finally brought him to the girl’s attention, she tried to pet Gabriel awkwardly but he sneaked away in a flash, hiding behind Dean. Dean looked at him surprised, this was definitely not normal.

“I’m sorry, he’s not used to strangers.”

“Oh, but I’m not a stranger at all! Or I hope at least not for long...”

There was something about the intonation and the way she leaned towards Dean that made him feel goosebumps. Oh, so this was why Gabriel had been so uncomfortable before. 

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure Sam will love the idea of preparing a meal for a new friend.”

The girl’s face fell considerably.

“Who’s Sam?”

“Oh, my partner in crime. Been together since I’ve got a mind of my own. I actually think we could never be apart.” 

“Oh…”

“Well, I’ll see you later then. When should I call you?”

“Oh, it’s alright, I’m going to uh, leave town for a while, you know, work... so maybe I’ll give you a call later.”

“Sure, we’ll be looking forward to have dinner with you.”

Gabriel was smiling cheekily while they turned away from the conversation, not that anyone would have noticed the difference while he was a dog but that didn’t stop him from sauntering joyfully the rest of the way towards the car.

“Man, you could have said something about the marriage obsessed before we exchanged numbers.”

“Me? I tried to call your attention and you just shoved me away!” 

Gabriel was now back to normal. Their bickering went on until they reached the front of a completely different building and Dean parked his Baby.

“...What are we doing here?”

“I…” Dean didn’t really know how to say it. “You know… It’s, uh, it’s kind of weird to have you as a dog all the time and Sam and Jack always look at you all starstruck so I… uh...”

“You‘re really going to get a dog?”

“Ok, now you’re making it sound like I’m a weirdo.”

“Actually, who are you and what have you done with Dean Winchester?”

Dean punched Gabriel’s shoulder.

“Are you coming or not?”

They walked into the animal shelter, Dean was feeling extremely self conscious, he had never ever done something like this. After talking for a second with the receptionist and stumbling on his own words Gabriel took over. Yes, we’d like a dog. Yes, we can deal with rescued animals. Yes, we have more than enough space for it to run and we also have already bought the toys and bed. We have a boy but he’s extremely smart and empathetic. Don’t worry ma’am, we can fill up as many questionnaires as you want. This way? Ok, we’ll follow your lead.

Last time he had been at an animal shelter had been for a case and he had had half the mind of a dog at the time so even when he should have expected it, it was kind of weird not being able to understand what these mutts were saying.

They strolled along the set of cages a couple of times until Dean decided to go for a pointy eared, grey and white spotted shepherd of some sort. Dean filled in the papers while Gabriel made small talk with the receptionist.

“You don’t seem that concerned about us taking the dog despite looking so stern.” Playful wink. The receptionist laughed.

“Well, I believe I can consider myself a good judge of character, having a dog is going to be a good experience for your family.”

After receiving a talk from the receptionist about general care and the number of the nearest vet just in case of an emergency they walked out of the building with the new dog. Dean had decided to leave the naming for Sam. He deserved it.

Before turning the engine on he sat for a moment and sighed. 

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. I just don’t know what I got myself into.”

Gabriel laughed while turning to the backseat to look at the dog.

“What do you say boy? Are you scared like this idiot or excited to get to your new home?”

The dog barked once and waved his tail.

“Well, there you go, he’s really excited.” 

Dean snickered, thinking about it, he definitely had to prepare the camera for the moment Jack and Sam saw the dog for the first time.


	4. Chapter 4

Sam dashed towards the garage when he heard Dean’s authoritarian shout looking for him. He rushed up the staircase, gun in hand. However, when he got there, Dean and Gabriel were leaning over Baby’s side, one on each side of the backseat door with a grin on their faces.

“W… what’s wrong?”

“Nothing really.” Said Gabriel.

“Just this.” Said Dean, moving towards the door and opening it. 

The dog looked around, trying his best to classify all of the weird scents of the garage. It of course didn’t see Sam’s face lighting up like it was christmas time, locking his gun and putting it away he approached the door cautiously. Gabriel had told the dog to stay inside the car until he met Sam. When Sam placed his hand close to him, the dog finally gave him a good look and sniffed him, after a moment, he licked him contentedly. Sam snickered nervously.

“Is this...”

“A dog. A real dog. For you... and Jack. But mostly you, Sam.”

Sam’s eyes were teary while looking up at his brother.

“For real?”

“For real.”

Sam’s throat was caught in a lump. He went forward and held the dog closer.

“Go on boy, this is your human.” Said Gabriel softly. The dog turned towards him for a moment and looked at Sam with new interest. After smelling him for a moment he smiled and barked loudly.

“He says ‘hello’ Sam.”

Sam just laughed softly.

“Hey… uh...”

“Doesn’t have a name yet, that’s up to you.”

Sam stared at the dog for a long time.

“Just not something cheesy.” 

Sam turned to bitchface his brother before going back to the dog.

“Max, he’s gonna be Max.”

The dog barked wagging its tail, it was apparently really happy about it.

“Well then, let’s go inside, I already snapped some stuff for Max but you’re gonna have to buy the rest tomorrow, that’s half the fun of getting a dog.”

Bringing the dog inside had been quite easy, Dean wasn’t sure about it but he was suspecting Gabriel had somehow upped Max’s skills to understand humans. It was following Sam like it was the most natural thing to do. Jack also beamed when he met Max, even Castiel looked happier. Apparently it had been a really good idea to get that dog.

When the night came and Dean was getting ready for sleep, a golden corgi intruded his room running to successfully jump onto his bed and land by his side. The door magically closing itself behind him. Dean looked at him a bit surprised.

“You’re still sleeping with me?”

Gabriel barked wagging his tail. Dean sighed and looked at him for a long time, Gabriel could tell he was running his mind around something but didn’t understand what. He moved his head sideways and whined softly.

“You know Gabe if... If you’re gonna do this every night I’d rather have you as a guy… I... this is kind of weird.”

Gabriel lifted up his face in attention and stared at Dean for a moment, assessing the situation. Seconds later, he was back as a human, only with pajamas instead of his normal clothes.

“Are you sure about that Dean-o?”

Having the archangel so close made Dean flush. He glanced sideways to avoid his melting golden eyes.

“Y...Yeah”

Gabriel didn’t ask for more, he quickly made his way into the sheets before Dean was able to bail from his own words and made himself a ball against the hunter with a hum of content. Dean, caught up by the intimacy of the action, placed his arm around him. Steadily, Gabriel’s warmth quickly lead Dean into slumber.

“Good night Dean”

The hunter only came back with a soft acknowledging grunt. Softly, Gabriel nuzzled his neck before placing a kiss on his skin.

“...You really don’t know how much I love you.”

The hunter held him closer.

“Actually, I think I do.”


End file.
